THE DECREE PAGE 2
EDITORIAL
On December 20, 1967, the faculty passed the Convocations
proposal as it was proposed by Dean Moore. If siiffident funds
are made available the system will go into effect in the fall.
The main points are as follow's: 1) All students will be re
quired to attend these Convocations for at least six semesters
with three unexcused cuts per semester. 2) If so desired the
student may register for one semester hour’s credit per semester
for a maximum of eight semesters. 4) Students presently en
rolled will be given one unit of attendance requirement for
each semester they have been at Wesleyan. 5) Transfer students
will attend according to the schedule which appears in the con
text of the proposal.
This proposal will afford an excellent opportunity for the
entire student body. The presence of nationally recognized fig
ures on this campus will hopefully act as an intellectual stimu
lus, and provide the means to gain first-hand, expert reports
and opinions. This can only be of benefit to the campus.
The suggestions developed by the study corriinuttee, under
Hal Lloyd, were all adopted except for the substitution of chapel
attendence for Convocations attendence. By making the credit
aspect of the proposal optional, the faculty was able to provide
a system which replaced chapel with a program of vital rele
vance and interest, while at the same time helping to both in
sure foundation support and allowing the student to decide
whether or not he wishes to gain academic credit. This was an
extremely wise and fortunate decision on their part. At last
their will be an incentive to bring the siudent body to our
weekly required gathering, i for one wish that this proposal
meets with the greatest of success.
The complete proposal is as follows:
1. In the long tradition of church-supported liberal arts and
science coUegas in this country, chapel programs have served
the purposes of general education and in their own way have
made an unique contribution to the life of the spirit for those
who attended this liind of college. Assuming that this statement
about the past is fair, v/ithout offering evidence here to support
the proposition, it must be admitted that not every chapel pro
gram on every campus has indeed been worthwhile, and not
every effort to preserve the value of chapel on this and other
contemporary college campuses has been successful.
2. The purpose of this proposal on Convocations is to achieve
the good ends of the tradition by seeking new forms and meth
ods. The specific goals for the new Convocations program are;
a. To deal with the great issues of our age, including the
social, economic, poEtical, scientific, artistic, moral and
religious questions.
b. To relate these issues to the life and understanding of the
student.
c. To show the relevance of religious faith to these questions.
d.To furnish a context of universal discourse for our aca
demic community.
e. To enhance the sense of community by symbolic acts of the
whole community assembled and involved in ultimate issues.
3. The methods of achieving these aims are as follows:
a. There will be eight major convocations each academic year
with a theme for each month. An authority in each field
wiU be brought to campus for each monthly convocation.
Wlienever possible, the convocation speaker will be asked
to remain tliroughout the day and overnight to meet with
students and campus groups.
b. Each theme will be pursu^ throughout the month by week
ly programs at the convocation hour. The talent for the
weekly programs will be gathered from faculty-staffistu-
dents as well as regional area resource people. The pro
grams will take the forms of panel discussions, open forums,
skits and discussions, formal debates or formal address,
and mass media jM'esentations. Follow-up discussion groups
could be arranged when the interest warrants it.
c. Students will be required to attend Convocations for six
semesters. They may take the Convocations program for
elective credit of one semester hour per semester up to
eight semesters. Presently enrolled students will be given
credit for wliatever chapel services they have attended
Transfer students will be required to attend on the follow
ing basis:
A third semester transfer—5 semesters
A fourth semester transfer~4 semesters
A fifth semester transfer—3 semesters
A sixth semester transfer—2 semesters
A seventh semester transfer—1 semester
A student may earn as much as 8 s.h. credit toward the
graduation requirements.
4. Since Convocations is a program of study, it is assumed
that an amount of study equal to that of any other 1 s.h. earned
will be required of the student when Convocations is taken fo’’
credit. Readings will be assigned in the “issue” of the mont!;
with a variety of methods used, such as group discussions, to
help the student. His achievement in understanding the new
knowledge, insight, and relationships betweeii disciplines will
be evaluated by quizzes and examinations each semester. No
quality points may be earned; the grades will be S and U. An
honors list will be compiled each semester of those who made
substantial contributions to the program and showed superior
grasp of the issues.
rivey
mix.
Letters To
The Editor
Dear Sir:
Here are the reasons that
preclude my ever approving
or taking part in an Honor
Systeto:
I am among the first to per
ceive the need for uniform con
duct in groups of men. I
cannot conceive that any group
of men, any society, could long
function without those neces
sary props to the stability of
society, laws. I believe that
honest men can find common
beliefs which can then give rise
to systems of law that the
majority of individuals would
have no difficulty in obeying.
Every society in History has
had some system of laws, and
these systems of laws have
been generally more beneficial
than destructive in that they
give stability to society and,
usually, some measure of se
curity to the individuals in so
ciety.
Systems of law have in com
mon the fact that they are
needed by societies and the
fact that there must be a force
to back them up. From those
common points they can diverge
greatly in form and content,
some being more and some
less than they ought in my
opinion to be.
In general, there are occa
sional infractions by individ
uals against the system of law
under which they happen to be
living. Under most modern,
equitable systems of law, in
dividuals who break laws or
who are accused of having
broken laws are seized and
tried legally for the charges
brought against them. They
are either acquitted legally of
the charges brought against
them or they are condemned
legally to suffer some punish
ment for the crime which it
has been decided that they have
committed. When an individual
is condemned to suffer some
punishment, there is no pre
sumption of his having com
mitted a moral crime; there
is only mention of his having
contravened a system of law,
of his having committed a le
gal crime. In Great Britain,
the judge sentencing a man to
death says alter having read
the sentence, “...and may God
have mercy on your souL”
The convict, whether he has
been convicted of murder or
of shop-lifting, has been con
victed of having broken a legal
law, not a moral law. The
question of morality, of men’s
souls, is left unconsidered; as
I believe that it should be.
It IS on this point that I
oppose an Honor System, for at
this point an Honor System
becomes more than a systemof
law, more than Man needs or
can justify Imposing on anyone
other than himself. For, by
the nature of its promulgation
and enforcement, an Honor Sys
tem has behind it, as well as
the force of legality, the force
of morality. An Honor Sys
tem allows man to damn man,
not just to condemn him through
legal premises and processes.
I hold that only God can damn-
a man. (And if God does not
exist, then no one can.) Mo
rality, Honor, is a question of
the individual’s soul, and I leave
it to the individual and expect
him to leave it to me.
I defend the philosophy of the
system of laws, of the legality,
that can, if it must, condemn
a man. But I grant it to no
one to damn a man’s soul; as
an Honor System presumes to
do. It is my sincere hope
that the Wesleyan student body
will not be so dishonest to
itself, or so dishonorable, as
to choose an Honor System
over any system of laws; for
whatever flaws we may have
in our present system of laws,
our present system of laws
at least does not presume to
the Hubris of thinking itself
eternal or so powerful as to
condemn an immortal human
souL
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Ed (Peabody) Smith
Se minar
Proposed
—Oberlin, Ohio-(I. P. )-A new
approach to the teaching of
psychology is being tried at
Oberlin College this semester.
Twenty-two senior majors are
planning and running their own
seminar on Experimental Ap
proaches to Clincal Psy
chology.
The idea for the seminar
developed last spring during
student-faculty discussions on
departmental offerings. It is
an effort to show students that
problems in clinical psychology
can be approached through ex
perimental procedures.
The seminar is restricted to
seniors majoring in psychology
and is being offered on a credit/
no credit basis. Robert E.
Dixon, associate professor of
psychology at Oberlin, is the
f liaison between participants and
' the psychology faculty.
Students in the seminar have
.invited seven distinguished out
side lecturers to speak to them.
The talks are open to the public,
but discussion following each
talk is limited to participants
and psychology staff members.
Seminar students prepare for
the talks by reading and dis
cussion the week preceding each
psychologist’s visit to campus.
Reading materials are suggest
ed by the speakers and the
weekly discussions are led by
Oberlin professors whose re
search and interests lie in the
various areas.
The following action whidi is of interest to students was taken
by fc'.cul'ty on Deceit her 12, 1937;
(1) Summer session for 1%8 is to be a two temi session.
(2) The faculty rejected a motion to abolish Saturday classes
for the Spring Semester of 1968 in favor of one to refer the
matter to the Educational Program Committee for study. The
Committee has been instructed to report back to the faculty
by April 15, 1SG3.
(3) A special sessions type of curriculum was approved for
the Fall of 1968. Essentially, this program would establish the
foDowing calendar for 1968^9:
(a) A 14 week semester ending before Cnnstmas.
(b) A 14 week semester ending around May 1.
(c) A 4 week term during the month of May.
The 4 week term would be a special session given over to
special projects by all students working with faculty members.
This special session still has a lot of work to be done so I see
no need to give it a great deal of publicity at this time. Some
time in the next semester I would like to see an Assembly
period devoted to a discussion of this entire change.
EtiiiiiiiyiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiUiiniiiiiiniiiid
5. Since Convocations will be an academic exercise, the in
struction and supervising cost will corne in part from the
instructional budget. It is hoped that foundation help may >»e
secured to match our funds in order to secure speakers of
national and international stature. A faculty member should be
appointed as director of Convocations to spend half time in the
instruction and supervision of the academic work and in the|
coordinating of the program. A committee made up of students,
faculty and administration officers will give advice and consent
to the leadership of the director. The director of Convocations
will be appointed in the same way as faculty members.
6. This new program should be installed beginning with the
academic year 1968-69 and should run for a term of three years
as an experiment. After that lime the college may determine
its desirability as a permanent part of the academic program.